Trip and Stuff

Alright, enough with the suspense. I have an entire week off, and I'm still too lazy to update this thing.... sheesh. I'll be happy with once weekly, and you will be too :P.

Fernie Trip:

What can I say - NO crowd whatsoever. Even on the Saturday. The wait for the lift line was barely 3 minutes at the peak. Awesome. Great scenery, and incredible trails made for two astounding days of riding. The trails at the resort are mostly natural, save for 3 or 4 (two of which are twisted and wrong, and I'll never be riding them at *this* rate of progression - oh darn... ).

Make sure you eat at Rip'N'Richards if you're passing through. The crusted salmon was literally the best meal I've had in months, aside from the slightly smaller than normal portion. Fill the rest of the hole with some locally brewed pints and it will all work out.

This update will be accompanied by a lack of photos, because I have only three pics from the entire trip. The slow old guys I rode with took most of the photos (and a few videos, where we're hamming it up for my injured friend), so I will to start bugging them for pictures. I'll update once I get them.

And.... that's that. The Peugeot roadie is in pieces right now, and that does not make for good pictures. After I get the bloody rusted stem out, I have another full day of cleaning it up before pictures.

(pic from the Fernie website)

Going to Fernie!

Yes! I'm headed to Fernie for a short mountain bike vacation this weekend! This is the stuff epic road trips are made out of, except for the epicness - it's only 2 days :(... but that may be enough because riding a hardtail at the resorts is killer on the wrists.

I'll be riding the resort with a couple of old guys, because my other friends are out with injuries.
Yep, you guessed it - the guy with two broken legs. He claims he was "just riding along", and he was practicing wheelies when he looped out of a wheelie (went too far back), and he had to jump off his bike. He shattered his left tibia, and broke his right ankle on landing. 100% freak accident.

Dumb stuff always happens when you least expect it - Murphy's Law of mountain biking.
Case in point - my broken toe, on my second ever ride on my new bike. I hit a concrete post while "just riding along". End of story there, no details necessary :P.

Anyways, pics should be up Monday. I have all of next week off, so if anyone is interested in a bike ride, a road trip to Jasper, or anything, I'm availible.

I'll be checking in Monday.

Oh, I also acquired my dream 10-speed road bike at a garage sale today. Pics of that on Monday, too :).

Devon Trails

Betcha didn't know Devon had a nice set of trails, eh? Well, acting on a tip from the Edmonton Local Ride guidebook (availible at local area bike shops for $15.00), I spent my day off exploring Devon.

To get there, take a left after driving over the Highway 60 bridge that crosses the North Saskatchewan River. The parking lot is almost under the bridge on the south side of the river.

Most the trails close the parking lot are pretty mellow, but once you find a trail that starts to climb out the valley, the trails turn into a wide-open, rollercoaster of singletrack/multiuse fun. You can find some extremely technical singletrack if you try some of the side trails that head straight down the valley.

The trails near the golf course are a little more sandy, and I didn't get to explore this area as much as I wanted to. I was running out of water (on the hottest day of the year, no less) at this point, but if you continue on past the passion-play area, you will find some good stuff.

The MOST gnarly line I've ever encoutered. I want to go back to get pics on this ;).

Just past the cliffs.

This trail brought to you by Jesus. Why am I not burning yet?

Bike next to cliffs, for sense of scale.

Bike parked on corner of techy descent.

Uphill portion of the corner.

Downhill portion.

The great white sandy cliffs of Devon.

And... that's that. Take lots of water if you're riding on hot days, kids. I burned through 2 litres in just over two hours, and I needed MORE. Thankfully I had extra at the truck.

Oh, here's a picture of said truck (taken today). It was incredibly bright, so I was squinting.:


I also visited my friend at the hospital today. He broke both his legs while biking. Healing vibes to him, everybody! More on that tomorrow.

Weekend Ride Pics!

Alrighty folks, here's another lazy update... with CONTENT!! It's entirely excusable this way ;).

These pics are from Banff National Park, and the Canmore Cougar Creek Benchlands area.

Note: This update also introduces the new gallery style I will be using. Much superior to the old "folder of junk", no?

Click here for pics!

Tat and I rode the Lake Minnewanka trail (to the Warden's Cabin) on Friday, and I took off to Canmore by myself on Saturday. If you're ever doing some riding in Banff, make sure you hit the Lake Minnewanka trail. You wouldn't want to miss this rollercoaster of awesome singletrack.

That's it folks! Hopefully I'll start on a more regular, less lazy update style soon.

I'm still alive - just lazy...

You heard me! That, and uninspired to update (as of recently). Anyways, I'm going camping this weekend, and perhaps ripping up COP on Sunday. I'll take some pics for you all.

See ya later!

Apologies and Stuff

Apologies to anyone that showed up to the ride on Saturday. Several things needed to happen Saturday morning that would ensure my presence in Terwillegar, but I finally finished everything around 2:00pm. Stupid weekends.

Anyways, I went to my first small, "theatre-nerd" type improv show at the Varscona on Saturday (Chimprov). Miles ahead of Yuk Yuks (last summer's Tuesday night routine) in terms of laughs. We ran into at least five MAC people (tech-team/drama reunion), and apparently they are going to perform improv on Friday. Small world, eh?

The whole "learning-to-drive-a-standard" thing has been great fun. The biggest challenge comes from shifting out of neutral into first (either on a hill, or while stopped). The rest of the gears are easy, trust me. Learn it now if you can!

No truck pics yet. It's rust-on-white coloured, so it's not the most photogenic vehicle on the road. Unless there is an outcry for pictures, I'm not going to bother.

Must... ride... bike... this week!

Rabbit Hill bike park opens on June 17th. Anyone want to come? :D

Truck and Ride Time!

Alright, I finally went to check out my boss' truck today. It's a little white w/black canopy '96 Nissan pickup. It will only seat two comfortably (payback of rides is going to be hard...) and it's perfect as a small work truck, two-person bike/canoe/gear hauler, and for driving around town. The paint is crappy in spots, but oh well. Everything else is in awesome shape, and I'm stoked to start driving (finally). Hopefully I will have it by the weekend. I'll have pics once I have it at home.

I'm going back to the crappy framing job tomorrow, after a week-and-a-half of roofing. Thankfully there are only two days left in the week. Framing sucks. Don't be fooled by those Gunslinger framing ads on the radio, and on billboards around town. I can only imagine wood framing sucks more than steel, because everything is HEAVIER, and you probably need more of it.

Don't go into framing. Period. Concrete probably sucks, too. Roofing, electrical/electrician work, and HVAC systems (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) are better for the money.

Summer Ride Times Announcement:

Alright, no rain predicted for Saturday... so far.

I want to get a group ride in. Talk to Vish and Andy. We did some great stuff last time.
The one after that was Terwillegar - Adam showed up, and then I cancelled the last Saturday one because of the threat of rain. Fuck you rain.

So, let's get another Terwillegar ride in. The trails kick ass, and lots of you missed them.

When: Saturday, June 10th.
Where: Terwillegar Park - Meet in Riverbend Square at the Shell Gas Station.
Who: YOU... and your bike.
Bring: Water and possibly food, your friends and their bikes.

That's all. Show up!